Take (Public) Ivy

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Holy cow, I'm actually updating this blog! And I'm doing it with a post I wrote months ago. It may be late, but it's better than never, right? That's what "they" say anyway. Here's my take on what to come away with from Pitti:

1. Don't wear a costume.

This looks absolutely ridiculous. Surely, you'd never wear mint green pants with a lavender jacket, right? How can this apply? Well, a "preppy" or supposedly "classic" look can fall into costume territory very quickly (see: the 1980's).

If you want to do something fun or go-to-hell, keep it to a single item. I'd consider a madras shirt, at least traditional, plaid madras, to fall into this category. In the picture below I kept my look pretty low key, with the exception of the bright shirt.

2. Some color combinations just work, and always will.
Color combinations are, in my opinion, the best reason to go through pictures from an event like Pitti. For example, Tommy Ton's photos can give endless inspiration. These pictures can give you an easy way to see what different colors and patterns look like when matched. This year's biggest trend appears to have been blue on blue, specifically a very light blue shirt paired with a navy tie; it works, in fact it looks amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't save pictures when I planned this post a couple months back, and this is the best picture I can find now.

3. Do have fun with your clothes.
There's no reason to take yourself overly seriously at any point, really, and dress can be a great way to add some whimsy to life. Why not throw on some of those GTH pants or a fun shirt. If you like it, go with it. Just keep the rest of your outfit fairly neutral, as mentioned.

4. A trend to take
Finally, there's one trend that may truly turn out to be trendy, but is still well worth stealing: high lapel notches. Some of the current jackets have taken the lapel notch and moved it up about an inch. It's subtle, but it creates an updated look that wont make you feel absurd when you go back and look at a picture in 15 years (lookin' at you, Thom Browne).

Alright, if you're actually reading this, thanks for sticking with me through months of non-updates. I have some posts written out that I need to get typed up and posted, hopefully I'll do it in a timely manner.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

I found my old post, word for word, saved on my computer! I've reposted exactly, though I feel it may be totally unnecessary after Heavy Tweed Jacket's amazing write-up about Brooks' collars found here. A true must read. Still, for the beginner I repost this:

Sorry for the long time between posts. School has a way of picking up at the least fortunate times. Plus, with our school gunman, this week was particularly crazy.

A good roll is one of those things that separates good from great. A lapel pressed flat looks cheap; a collar with no roll is nearly useless; and both done properly looks amazing. Fortunately, the roll of a jacket lapel is almost always fixable, unlike the poor, unfortunate collar. A good dry cleaner should be able to fix your jacket right up. The best thing to fix a collar roll I’ve found is Brooks Brothers (as in, their shirts inevitably roll the best, most reliably). I’ve put together some pictures, mostly not my own, to illustrate the differences and the possible perfection!

Much of the credit for the older pictures I’ll post goes to user AldenPyle on AAAC and the always amazing ‘American Trad Men’ thread.

Tell me this lapel doesn’t look great

Particularly when compared to this one (note the lapel roll, not the pose)

This is not to say that a suit automatically looks bad with a flat lapel, it clearly doesn’t, but when striving for the last 10%, look here first.

As for shirts, it’s the collar that matters

Actually one of my shirts (well, it was one of mine; I had to pass it along just this week). An older, Brooks shirt with an unlined collar (as in, the collar has no lining between the 2 layers of fabric that create it). Often, an unlined collar can create the ultimate roll, but they’re depressingly hard to find. Notice the gentle roll that the collar creates at the top, that’s precisely what a collar roll is, and it gets even better when filled with a tie.

Then look at this shirt. Again, tell me this wouldn’t look better with a proper roll. Not to mention, these smaller, flat collars are almost impossible to wear a tie with, if the mood strikes you.

Unfortunately, many of the new or younger lines, such as LL Bean Signature and Lands End Canvas fall prey to this. I’m not sure who told them that younger people don’t like a real collar, but please, give us a chance and we’ll learn if we don’t love it already! Brooks’ college collection is dangerously close tothis, as well (sadly).

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Well, I meant to re-open with a WAYWT (what are you wearing today) post on my Christmas attire, but I forgot to take the picture. I'll see what I can track down there, but in the mean time, here's a Christmas shot of the condo!

Well, I thought I'd saved and put this blog on hiatus for the end of the semester, but it turns out it was fully deleted. I think the only post of any substance was on collar and lapel rolls, so it should be fairly easy to re-post. I hope to continue with my plan to make this an easy, quick and convenient reference for those just getting into the preppy/ivy style to learn the basics. Perhaps as I get to be better at posting, I'll try to cover some more advanced stuff. As for now, for anything more than I can provide, I refer all to my blogroll.